Early travel experiences

Travel to Entebbe went well (well...almost). Connections worked out. Visa and entrance no problem. Luggage arrived. Transport to guesthouse here in Entebbe smooth. Slept well. Up and have had breakfast and have a couple of hours before heading back to airport and fly to Congo.

So much input. I can't do justice to it all in my meager attempts at "output"!

So, I'll begin with the "almost" part of the travel. I got to spend some time stretched out in business class between Detroit and Amsterdam! Wonderful break from the not-quite-leaning back, size small seats in coach (where I travel). No...no upgrades or random act of kindness on the part of some other passenger. No...just a minor medical situation. Dinner was over, I was, like the rest of my coach travelers, trying to get some rest. I had been dozing when I began to feel faint and sweaty--that "PLEASE GOD! DON'T LET ME GET SICK!" feeling. You know the panic. Had I eaten something bad? What was going on? I just wanted desperately to lie down.

Hit the call button. Mercifully, the attendant arrived quickly. It didn't take much to convince her that I needed to lay down anywhere...on the floor, in the aisle. Didn't matter. Just lie down!!

My seatmate, who had been sound asleep, graciously allowed me out of the row, and the attendant took me to the galley area where I lay down on the floor. Ah...great relief. Pillow, blanket, oxygen mask, 2 more attendants and purser later, the dizziness began to subside. They ushered me to a business class recliner (wasn't hard to decline that offer!) then put out the all-call for "a doctor or medical personnel on the plane." I was feeling just lousy enough that I didn't care to be the reason for an all-call. I also knew there was nothing terribly wrong--that this would pass. I've been in other situations where strange events have caused me to pass out (stories for other times). And I had had a similar experience during flight to South Africa two years ago. I actually wondered if it had something to do with the glass of wine I had at dinner.

Two ER docs soon joined the attendants. The short story is that my pulse and blood pressure were both very low (pulse: 28; bp: 80). The docs kept monitoring me and were initially concerned that neither came back up as quickly as the would have expected, given my general good health. At one point they encouraged me to stop over in Amsterdam to get checked out. Nah...that wasn't going to happen. But I didn't argue at that moment.

By the time we were 30 minutes out of Amsterdam, pulse and bp were up to normal ranges; I was feeling just fine. And the docs were mystified.

My diagnosis? A glass of wine at dinner was just enough depressant (suppressant?) to trigger this chain of events. Everything else has gone smoothly. No bouts of fainting between Amsterdam and Entebbe (no wine, either!).

But next time I want to stretch out in business class (or on the floor) I know what to do!